The Home of Skip's Summer School

“There’s a fundamental misconception in photographic education right now. New photographers actually believe they can learn to be a photographer just watching videos and webinars. You can no more learn to be a professional photographer sitting in front of your computer than you could learn to drive a car just watching videos.”

So at SCU we’ve decided to do something radical. We’re going to go back to basics. To human handshakes, telephone calls, meetings that happen face-to-face in a room full of people who share a passion for photography.

If you want to learn, you need a variety of tools – including hands-on education with outstanding instructors who know how to teach and can give you the time you need to develop your skills. Sure, we’ll do stuff online. We’ll offer webinars, blog posts and podcasts, Google Hangouts and more. But there will always be humans behind everything we offer, and a chance to interact with them in real life. You need a network of vendors and associates who help you through those challenges you face in growing your skills and business. You need the ability to customize your own program in order to grow at your own pace without waiting in lines, dealing with crowded giant ballroom programs and never feeling the intimacy of building new friendships with your peers and instructors.

Today, Skip Cohen University has grown to be one of the fastest growing blog and websites in photographic education with fifty-one of the finest photographers in the industry making up the faculty. New members of the faculty are being added all the time along with podcasts, new content in the form of videos, guest posts and webinars.

Whether you’re an aspiring or working professional photographer, there’s a good chance you’re having the same problem: You’re surviving – but not thriving.

Photographer’s THRIVE means to change all that. On March 2, 2014 we’re going to launch a new approach to photographic education. We’re going to focus exclusively on the marketing and business side. We’re going to teach you how to get paid.

For THRIVE you don’t need to bring any camera gear. All you need is a pen, paper and an open mind. We’re going to focus on one thing only – marketing. When the day is over you’ll leave with your very own marketing plan.

You wouldn’t start a journey from Florida to Alaska without a map. Well, how can you market your business without a map? We’re going to help each attendee build a mini marketing plan for their photo business during the conference and we’re going to do it right there – on the spot – together. We’re also going to help you build a news release, tailored to your business, and it will be ready to go right after WPPI.

You’ll learn pricing, negotiating and selling skills. We’ll be role playing – talking about some of the biggest challenges in closing the sale and finding clients. We’ll help you build a stronger arsenal of marketing tools, including social media.

We’re going to give you the tools you need to grow your business. We will literally spend the day with you, making sure you leave with ideas you can implement immediately upon your return home.

A NEW APPROACH TO SUPPORT

We’re tired of programs you look forward to, attend, then return to the challenges of life and business with pages of notes that never seem to get read again. So, instead of a one day program, March 2, THRIVE actually has four segments. On December 9, January 13 and February 10 we’re going to do three online interactive webinars exclusively for the attendees registered for the March 2 event. These programs will NOT be the usual one way presentations. In fact, we’re going to do our best to keep the presentation part to just 15 minutes for each session and spend the next 45 minutes answering your questions. You’ll have a chance to submit questions in advance and we’ll take a few live questions during the session.

THRIVE Online will take place from 9:00 – 10:00 PM EST on each date and attendees will receive information on how to join before the end of November. Speakers for each online program will be me and Scott for at least one of them and then depending on the nature of the questions submitted, we’ll bring in some of the best experts on business and marketing in the industry.

This is about marketing and building your brand and we’re going to concentrate on as much custom programming as we can work into each event. By March 2, when we meet live in Las Vegas, attendees will already have a solid foundation to build on. We want each attendee to leave with a starting blueprint for their marketing plan for the rest of 2014.

THRIVE only has one goal – to help take your business to the next level with a focus on forward thinking. We want you in a leadership role instead of being reactionary to the economy, technology and your competitors.

The live event, a one-day, non-stop program is just before WPPI. We’ll be on stage from 8:30 Sunday morning until 5:00 pm. (Lunch is on your own – the famous In & Out Burger is right across the street as well as other fast food restaurants.) We’re going to work hard and play hard – with a few fun door prizes and a day that focuses on your business!

The Instructors:

As the authors of the best-seller, “Going Pro” (Random House), Scott Bourne and Skip Cohen are going to share new tactics, anecdotes and real life experiences you can immediately learn and profit from. Their experience working with thousands of photographers each year has given them the insight to help you build a stronger business.

When and Where:

THRIVE takes place at the Hampton Inn Tropicana (4975 Dean Martin Drive, 89118 Las Vegas) where we’ve done several outstanding programs. It’s right off the strip at Tropicana and Dean Martin and convenient to all strip hotels.

Register by December 2, 2013 and your ticket is only $79. Registration by February 2, 2014 is $89. After February 2, 2014 tickets are $119, This is a small boutique event and will not exceed 100 people. We want the chance to work closely with each attendee so don’t miss out. Buy your ticket today.*

Skip's Photo Network

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Considered one of the best books ever written to help you fine-tune your portraiture it's back for one reprint, thanks to Marathon Press. The book is officially out of stock. While there are no plans for doing a reprint, a few isolated copies may be available. Please email info@mei500.com for more information.